November 17
1800s *1887 - The National League meets and officially recognizes the Brotherhood by meeting with a committee of three players, Monte Ward, Ned Hanlon, and Dan Brouthers. *1892 - National League magnates conclude a four-day meeting in Chicago where they agree to shorten the 1893 schedule to 132 games and drop the double championship concept. They also pledge to continue to reduce player salaries and other team expenses. 1900s *1903 - Chicago Cubs shortstop Joe Tinker tells an interviewer that it is "impossible to fix" a ML baseball game. 1910s *1913 - Future Hall of Famer Wilbert Robinson is named as the Brooklyn Dodgers new manager in replacement of Bill Dahlen. The Dodgers will rename their franchise the “Robins” in honor of their new skipper. Robinson will compile a 1375-1341 (.506) record during his 18 year tenure in Brooklyn. 1920s *1927 - A group led by Alva Bradley and John Sherwin buys the Cleveland Indians. 1930s *1933 - The Pittsburgh Pirates sends Alan Comorosky and Tony Piet to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Red Lucas. As a pitcher, Lucas will feast on the Reds over the rest of his career, going 14–0 against them. Piet hit .323 for the season, but was in the doghouse over a contract dispute and never started a game after July. 1940s *1940 - Jimmy Wilson is named as the new Chicago Cubs manager He gets his reward for managing the woeful Philadelphia Phillies in the 1930s and for his late-season role with the Cincinnati Reds. *1947 - The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns engineer a blockbuster eight-player deal. The key player is shortstop Vern Stephens, who comes to Boston after hitting .279 with 15 home runs and 83 RBI. The Red Sox also acquire 11-game winner Jack Kramer while giving the Browns $300,000 in cash and six players, including pitchers Jim Wilson and Al Widmar. Stephens will lead the American League in RBI in two of the next three seasons while averaging 33 home runs each year. 1950s *1953 - The St. Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc. The Baltimore franchise board officially changes its name to the Orioles. *1954 - In one of the largest transactions in major league history, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles started a 17-player megatrade that included "players to be named later" which will be finished on December 1. New York sent Willy Miranda, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Harry Smith, Gus Triandos, Gene Woodling, Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert, and a minor leaguer to Baltimore, in exchange for Bob Turley, Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley, and Dick Kryhoski. Thought the transaction was satisfactory for both parties, the Yankees benefited from acquiring Larsen and Turley. *1959 - San Francisco Giants slugger Willie McCovey is selected as the National League Rookie of the Year, after hit .354 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in just 52 games. McCovey gets all 24 votes to make him the second Giants player in a row to win the award unanimously. Teammate Orlando Cepeda ran away with the award in 1958. 1960s *1960: **The new Washington Senators franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada, a Washington DC native, World War II hero, and head of the Federal Aviation Agency. **Hank Greenberg drops out of the bidding to run the new American League franchise in Los Angeles. *1964 - The New York Mets name former New York Yankees great Yogi Berra to their coaching staff. Berra signs a two-year contract and will work under another former NYY legend, Casey Stengel, who is now the Mets’ manager. *1965 - MLB owners unanimously elect William D. Eckert as commissioner, succeeding Ford Frick, who leaves office after 14 years. Eckert, a retired Lt. General in the United States Air Force, becomes baseball's fourth commissioner. He will serve only one term before being replaced by Bowie Kuhn. 1970s *1971 - At age 22, Oakland Athletics pitcher Vida Blue becomes the youngest player ever to win the Most Valuable Player Award and only the fourth to capture both the Cy Young Award and the MVP in the same season. *1975: **The Texas Rangers trade future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Juan Beníquez and two pitchers. A seven-time 20-game winner, Jenkins will win only 12 games for Boston in 1976. **The Dodgers trade outfielders Jim Wynn and Tom Paciorek, and infielders Lee Lacy and Jerry Royster to Atlanta for OF Dusty Baker and 1B Ed Goodson. *1976 - Minnesota Twins first baseman Rod Carew, who batted .331, wins the American League MVP Award. This is the first year in the past five that Carew did not win the batting title. *1979 - On a flight to Austin, Texas, Daniel Okrent sketches out the first draft of rules for what would become Rotisserie League Baseball. Had the friends he was seeing not ignored these rules, the Rotisserie League would have been called Pit League, after the Austin barbecue joint where Okrent first unveiled them. Two weeks later in New York, he pitches the idea to a more receptive group with whom Okrent lunched monthly at La Rotisserie Francaise. 1980s *1982 - Center fielder Dale Murphy wins the National League MVP Award, becoming the first Braves player to be so honored since Hank Aaron in 1957. Murphy hit .281 with 36 home runs, 109 RBI, 113 runs, and 23 stolen bases. *1983 - Kansas City Royals teammates Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin, who, along with former teammate Vida Blue, had pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase cocaine, are each sentenced to three months in prison. *1987 - George Bell becomes the first Toronto Blue Jays player ever to win the American League MVP Award in team history, edging Alan Trammell of the Detroit Tigers, 332-311. Bell hit .308 with 47 home runs and a league-leading 134 RBI. *1989 - Nick Esasky, who became one of the most coveted free agents after hitting .277 with 30 home runs and 108 RBI for the Boston Red Sox, signs a three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves. Esasky lives in Marietta, Georgia. 1990s *1992 - MLB holds the expansion draft to stock the rosters of the National League's two new teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. A total of 72 players are chosen. Pitcher David Nied is the first pick of the Rockies, while outfielder Nigel Wilson is selected first by the Marlins. Florida take prospect José Martínez (2nd), while Colorado pick veteran Charlie Hayes (2nd). The best picks for Florida are Trevor Hoffman (4th), eventually packaged for Gary Sheffield; Jeff Conine (11th), who will hit 81 home runs in four years; and Chris Carpenter (18th), later dealt to Texas for Robb Nen. For Colorado, they will find gold with Eric Young (6th), Joe Girardi (10th), Vinny Castilla (16) and Armando Reynoso (18th). Picks #13 and 14 are good ones for the Rockies: Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus and Doug Bochtler, but they'll all go to San Diego in 1993 in an ill-fated deal for pricey veteran pitchers Bruce Hurst and Greg W. Harris. **The Cincinnati Reds trade relief pitcher Norm Charlton to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for outfielder Kevin Mitchell. **The Chicago Cubs trade shortstop Alex Arias and third baseman Gary Scott to the Florida Marlins for pitcher Greg Hibbard. **Oakland Athletics shortstop Walt Weiss is traded to the Florida Marlins for two prospects. **The Colorado Rockies make their first trade a good one, sending OF Kevin Reimer to the Milwaukee Brewers for OF Dante Bichette. Bichette hit .287 for Milwaukee, but just .246 in the second half of the year. **The Los Angeles Dodgers trade pitcher Rudy Seanez to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for second baseman Jody Reed. *1993 - The Atlanta Braves trade first baseman Brian R. Hunter to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a minor league player. *1997: **The Arizona Diamondbacks sign free agent shortstop Jay Bell to a five-year contract. **The Atlanta Braves sign free agent shortstop Walt Weiss to a three-year contract. *1998 - The Pittsburgh Pirates sign free agent infielder Mike Benjamin to a two-year contract. *1998 - Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves edges San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman for the National League Cy Young Award. It is the sixth time in the past eight seasons that a Braves pitcher has won the award. *1999 - Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who hit .319 with 45 home runs and 110 RBI, wins the National League MVP Award. Murphy becomes the fifth Braves player to be so honored, joining Johnny Evers (1914), Bob Elliot (1947), Hank Aaron (1957) Dale Murphy (1982-83) and Terry Pendleton (1991). **The Anaheim Angels hire Mike Scioscia as their new manager. **In a trade of relievers, Colorado send Curt Leskanic to Milwaukee for Mike Myers. **The Baltimore Orioles sign free agent pitcher Mike Trombley to a three-year contract. 2000 *2000: **Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jason Kendall signs the richest contract in team history. The $60 million, six-year contract extension, which includes a $4 million signing bonus, starts with a base salary of $6 million in 2002 and peaks at $13 million in 2007. **The Rangers swap pitchers Ryan Cullen and Aaron Harang to Oakland for second baseman Randy Velarde. **The Phillies sign free agent closer José Mesa to a two-year contract worth $3.4 million. *2002 - After dropping the first three contests, the American Major League team beat the Japanese All-Stars, 4-2, to take their fourth straight victory. It is the visitors from the United States fifth straight series win, and they haven't dropped one since 1990. *2004 - After being wined and dined by Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline and team owner Peter Ilitch, free agent Troy Percival signs a two-year, $12 million deal surprising everyone, including his agent, by announcing he wants to play in Detroit next season. Before the preliminary meeting in the Motor City, the former Angels closer had been scheduled to meet with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs later in the week. Bothered by arm problems in 2005, Percival will finish 1-3 with eight saves and a 5.76 ERA in just 26 games pitched. *2005: **Jason Bay, coming off two of the best career-starting seasons in Pittsburgh Pirates history, agreed to an $18.25 million, four-year contract that covers his arbitration-eligible seasons.In 2004, Bay hit .282 with 26 home runs and 82 RBI in 120 games played while becoming the first Rookie of the Year in club history. He won the award despite missing the first five weeks of the season after shoulder surgery. Bay followed hitting .306 with 32 homers, 101 RBI, 110 runs scored, 21 stolen bases and a .402 on-base percentage in 2005 despite playing on a team that lost 95 games. He finished 12th in the National League MVP voting after playing in all 162 games. **MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the toughened steroids policy agreed to with the players' association earlier this week. Owners also approved transferring control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to Stuart Sternberg from founding owner Vince Naimoli. Births *1867 - George Stallings, player and manager (d. 1929) *1906 - Rollie Stiles, pitcher *1913 - Stu Martin, infielder (d. 1997) *1919 - Ray Lamanno, All-Star catcher (d. 1994) *1923 - Mike García, All-Star pitcher (d. 1986) *1929 - Norm Zauchin, infielder (d. 1999) *1933 - Orlando Peña, pitcher *1936 - Gary Bell, All-Star pitcher *1937 - Jim Brewer, All-Star pitcher (d. 1987) *1944 - Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame pitcher *1959 - Brad Havens, pitcher *1964 - Mitch Williams, All-Star pitcher *1965 - Paul Sorrento, infielder *1966 - Jeff Nelson, All-Star pitcher *1971 - Billy McMillon, outfielder *1973 - Eli Marrero, outfielder Deaths *1958 - Mort Cooper, All-Star pitcher (b. 1913) *1961 - Benny Kauff, outfielder (b. 1890) *1968 - Earl Hamilton, pitcher (d. 1891) *1977 - Roger Peckinpaugh, infielder (b. 1891) *1980 - Hersh Martin, All-Star outfielder (b. 1909) *1987 - Paul Derringer, All-Star pitcher (b. 1906) *2004 - Floyd Baker, infielder (b. 1916)